F1 News: Felipe Massa believes 'good chance' of STUNNING title battle victory

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Massa believes 'good chance' of STUNNING title battle victory

The Brazilian has started a lawsuit against F1 bosses

Originally written by Sam Cook. This version is a translation.

Friday 22 March 2024 17:00

Former Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa believes he has a 'good chance' in his legal case against the FIA, Bernie Ecclestone and Formula One Management (FOM).

Massa officially started legal proceedings last week, following months of waiting for a response from the sport's key figures surrounding the 'crashgate' scandal.

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Comments from Ecclestone last year sparked Massa into action, after the 93-year-old revealed that he and then-FIA president Max Mosley knew about Renault's wrongdoing at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix long before it was investigated.

Renault ordered Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet Jr to purposely crash into the wall in order to help team-mate Fernando Alonso's strategy. Alonso had just pitted for new tyres, and the resulting safety car helped him to win the race.

Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 world championship

Nelson Piquet Jr's crash at the 2008 Singapore GP

Massa's 2008 title chances

The 2008 world championship was eventually won by Hamilton by just a single point, which is why Massa has been sparked into action.

Piquet's wrongdoing was only revealed in 2009, when he was dropped by the Renault team, and the matter was investigated with disqualifications and fines being handed out to various personnel.

However, as it had been so long since the event, the result of the race stood. Massa argues the result would have been null and void and he therefore would have won the championship, had Ecclestone and Mosley investigated as soon as they found out.

Ecclestone later revealed that he 'didn't remember' making the comments in the interview in 2023. Massa is seeking between £60million-£150million in compensation for the incident.

"As I have stated before, we will fight until the end," Massa told RacingNews365 about the case.

"It's out of my hands anymore. We have a very, very good group of people who have worked on this in a professional manner.

"I honestly believe we have a good chance of winning this case," he continued. "We are fighting for justice because what happened to me is not fair."

Lewis Hamilton FIA Singapore Grand Prix Felipe Massa Bernie Ecclestone Formula One Management